Pinto beans offer simple goodness
Comfort food is a little different for everyone, but it usually is warm, filling and simple. Sometimes it’s not very healthy. I love a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie, a recently fried doughnut or house-made tagliatelle.
Carbs and sugar make me feel good — and then usually not-so-good, especially if I overindulge. Snuggling on a sofa on a chilly day is nice, but not if it’s because your last meal or snack was lethargy-inducing.
But there are proteinbased foods that can soothe frayed nerves and make you feel good mentally, without taking a toll on your body.
Besides vegetarians, who doesn’t love a roast chicken? Juicy meat, crisp skin — it just smells like Sunday. If we head down to Texas, it may be a pot of slow-simmered pinto beans.
Pinto beans go velvety when carefully simmered, but the key is to build a flavorful broth for the beans to absorb. Start with dry beans and soak them overnight. Sauté onions, bacon, garlic and some subtle spices and use the best chicken broth you can, and the result will be aromatic and very cozy.
Harold McGee, author of many books on food chemistry, says the adage of not salting beans prior to cooking is false — the salt will not keep them from cooking up soft. If you simmer beans and they fail to soften up, the culprit is more likely very old beans. So if you’re using a broth that isn’t salty, add a pinch before simmering.
These beans are versatile. Try them beside eggs in the morning, with a bit of cornbread for lunch or as an accompaniment to rice, meat or enchiladas for dinner.
If you’d prefer vegetarian beans, use olive oil instead of bacon and a hearty vegetable stock for cooking. You might miss the smokiness the bacon offers, but you can try adding smoked paprika with the spices or some chiles in adobo sauce in lieu of green chiles.